Starwood expands thin MDF production

Wood-based panels production in Turkey has often confounded expectations with its ability for continual investments in new plants.

Key manufacturers such as Kastamonu Entegre and Starwood have led the charge with several important investment projects in recent years. As we speak, Starwood is planning to add a second thin MDF/HDF plant in Inegöl, while Kastamonu is currently building a particleboard continuous press line in Samsun (expected to be completed in 2021). Both see Siempelkamp as the main project supply partner.

In 2019, Starwood had already added a new continuous particleboard line at Inegöl, with Dieffenbacher as the main supply partner.

Starwood, one of the Yildiz family companies engaged in the forest products industry for four generations, is one of the biggest industrial companies in Turkey and has the highest wood-based panels production volume capacity under one roof at Inegöl in Turkey.

It produces 2,000m3 of MDF per day on two lines, with a specialisation in the production of thin MDF from 1.5mm to 8mm thickness, and 3,000m3 per day on three chipboard lines.

Latest project for thin MDF/HDF

Starwood’s most recent project announcement came on February 1, 2021, with a contract signed with Siempelkamp to supply a high-performance thin board plant for a new thin MDF/HDF line at a location close to its main Inegöl plant. GIM Export Group was appointed to order the machinery for the project and organise the financing.

This is the fifth time that Starwood has chosen to use Siempelkamp’s ContiRoll press technology and a Siempelkamp plant.

The new high-performance thin board plant is being built at Starwood’s second site near Inegöl, which has so far been used for wood chip production.

It supplements the capacity of approximately 750 to 800m3/day currently being produced on the first 7ft wide line.

The new 8ft wide line is designed for a capacity of an additional 1,000m³/day with board thicknesses of 2.7mm to 3mm. Their thickness ranges from 1.5 mm to 6mm. It is therefore geared to the production of thin and ultra-thin boards, but can also be used in furniture board production for MDF and L-MDF up to 22mm.

Very thin MDF boards are increasingly being used, for example, as furniture back panels, top layers of doors or drawer bottoms.

Thin MDF can only be produced economically with very fast-running plants.

The new plant for Starwood is therefore designed to run at 2,000mm/s.

The core of the scope of supply is the moulding and press line around the 9th generation ContiRoll continuous press in the 8ft x 28.8m format.

Besides the flexible infeed, the press is specially equipped with a hydraulic concept developed for thin and ultra-thin board production and a lightweight board package for furniture board production.

“The flexible press infeed is the guarantee for permanently high production speeds in thin board production,” said Ulrich Kaiser, sales manager for wood-based material plants at Siempelkamp.

“The compaction curve of the fibre mat in the press infeed is key for reliable and durable production at the highest press speeds. The overall configuration of the ContiRoll’s hydraulic system allows for an almost isobaric press technology – with the smallest thickness deviations in the thin boards produced, which are further processed unsanded.

“Starwood is one of the thin panel specialists in our industry, always opening its doors to visitors from all over the world, and is considered a trendsetter with its thin board line 1. Many other customers worldwide have therefore followed this philosophy and our overall concept for thin board production and have chosen Siempelkamp technology.”

In addition to the press technology, the spreading technology is also crucial for successful thin board production.

In this case, Siempelkamp relies on the “Starformer”, which has been further developed especially for this application and features a downstream fine leveller to eliminate the need to mill (scalp) the fibre mat and boost spreading accuracy.

The overall concept is rounded off by the adaptive spreading system developed by Siempelkamp, which allows automatic control of the spreading machine settings.

Also included in the delivery range is a fibre dryer from Siempelkamp’s subsidiary Büttner, as well as the glue dosing system including Ecoresinator.

The Ecoresinator installed in Starwood’s first thin board line in 2010 was the result of a joint development project between the two companies.

The system’s special injection concept, Siempelkamp says, is designed to reduce glue used by up to 15%, while also improving board quality and surface finish.

Starwood will operate three of these systems in the future. The number of references for the Siempelkamp Ecoresinator has therefore increased to a total of 44.

The configuration of the cooling and stacking line, which is designed for masterboard production, is also a special feature of the overall concept. Their 4-fold diagonal saw unit and two cooling star turners aim to ensure optimal production and conditioning of the panels.

With this plant, the installed base at Starwood supplied by Siempelkamp will increase to five ContiRolls – two for particleboard production and three for MDF.

The project also represents another milestone in the co-operation with the GIM Export Group, an important connection for Siempelkamp to the Turkish market. The current order represents the 30th new plant to be realised jointly by Siempelkamp and the Göttingen-based company.

Assembly will start in mid-2021 and based on the long years of co-operation and experience of both companies, the goal to produce the first board is planned for end of this year.

“We are pleased to once again contribute with a plant to our Turkish partner’s growing production capacities and to support its importance on the market with first-class press concepts,” said Samiron Mondal, member of the management board of G Siempelkamp GmbH & Co. KG.

Commissioning of the plant is scheduled for mid-2022.